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Friday, September 16, 2016

Winner of Week 1 + Week 2 Challenge

And the winner of week 1 challenge is....

We have TWO winners in this weeks challenge!!! Congrats to Jennifer AND Tee! This is the first time in Challenge history that we had a tie. You both win 3 patterns of your choice from our hand-picked Pattern Collection. See the patterns available to you HERE. Unfortunately, Brittany had the lowest score and did not make it on to the next round. All the ladies did an excellent job in this week's challenge. As we said many times, it was very hard to choose a winner! The winner in our Reader Participation section is: SewMeAdorable, Lilmrs_winslay & Virginiasdaughter on Instagram! You all win a 3 yard cut of the lovely sweater knit that was used in the challenge.

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Week 2 Challenge:

The Trench Coat Challenge

A trench coat is a must have this time of year. The trench coat was invented by Burberry and Aquascutum back in the 1850s. Later it was used as a raincoat by the British and French soldiers in WWI. The name "trench coat" came to be because it was used by Army officers in the trenches. During this time, the design was modified to include details such as shoulder straps and D-rings, all added for specific reasons. The wrist buckles, for example, were added to keep the rain out when using binoculars. A classic trench coat was usually made of a waterproof fabric such as a heavy gabardine, leather or poplin. It could have a removable lining, raglan sleeves and ranges in length. It is double-breasted with 10 front buttons, wide lapels, a storm flap, belt and pockets with button closure.While we probably don't use trench coats for these reasons today, we still see a lot of these features on trendy coats of this time. This week's challenge is to sew a trench coat to fit your personality. It can be a classic trench or a more trendy one. You can use classic fabrics or live on the edge with a unique fabric. It can be lined or unlined. The only thing that is a requirement is that it goes past your bottom so that it resembles a trench coat in some way. There should also be some type of lapel, whether it be classic and tailored or loose and floppy like trends you see today. There were some interesting takes on a trench coat at Stylecaster.com. Be sure to tell us a little about your personality, too!If you're interested in learning more about the Trench Coat, see Wikipedia.

We will be judging on a 1-10 scale (10 being the highest) using the following criteria:

Fit – Does the coat proportionately fit you? The coat doesn't pull at the shoulders? It closes in the front? If there's something about the fit that you think we would challenge, please tell us why you chose to do what you did.

Craftsmanship - Did you put a lot of care into the construction? Top-stitching straight, seams match, careful overall construction, etc? The hemline is straight?

Overall Execution - Did you create a trench that fits your personality? Does it look finished and ready to wear, not messy and rushed?

Presentation - While we totally understand not everyone has a professional camera and the perfect backdrop for photographing their creations, (Me included!!) you are in front of a world of other sewers. Make yourself look presentable. Submit a photo of the front, back and side view of the garment, as well as a "presentation photo" (this should be the best photo!) Detail photos are also requested so we can be better judges. So if you do some embellishing or a specific technique, zoom in and share with us! Not all the photos may be used in the blog post, but for judges reference.

Pati Palmer is driving force behind the Palmer/Pletsch publishing company, of dozens of sewing books and how-to DVD’s and creator of eight Palmer/Pletsch sewing notion products, including PerfectFuse™ Interfacings. Palmer has been designing for The McCall Pattern Co. since 1980, and Vogue prior to that. She has written the guidesheets for over 250 patterns that include fit and sewing tips. Palmer/Pletsch workshops are offered in Seattle WA, Portland OR, Richland MI, Philadelphia, PA, and Hartford, CT. Pati is so excited that her daughter Melissa Watson is following in her footsteps, joining a number of talented young women new to the fashion sewing industry.

Melissa Watson specializes in designing modern casual patterns with a great fit under the Melissa Watson for Palmer/Pletsch brand for the McCall Pattern Company. Melissa attended the Parsons School of Design and has spent her early career in NYC designing for ready-to-wear companies such as Theory, Ralph Lauren and Faherty Brand, sewing, and dabbling in teaching pattern fitting classes for the next generation of fashion sewists. She has a line of sewing patterns in which she uses the Palmer/Pletsch Tissue-Fitting method. These patterns can be found under the McCall's Pattern line.

Due Date: All photos, text, etc is due on Tuesday, September 20th. The finished projects will be revealed for reader voting Sept 21-22 and the winner will be announced on Friday, September 23th.

Attention readers! Don't forget to vote for your favorite piece! A link for voting will be provided on reveal day.

Prizes: This week's winner receives a package of Palmer/Pletsch PerfectFuse Sheer fusible interfacing and the Palmer/Pletsch PerfectFuse DVD. All courtesy of Palmer/Pletsch.

Reader Participation: This week's challenge for reader's is the same thing as the contestants! Post a photo of the finished trench coat on Facebook or Instagram using #FabricistaFabricMart by Sept 22. One winner will be chosen to win the prize pack shown below: